21st Flamerule, 1502 DR
Party: Azrael, Rokka, Sunbeam, Azure Eyes, & Myself
Our latest assignment brought us to the city of Phlan, where we met with one of the city's lords regarding a rather unusual theft.
Two men had stolen a collection of valuable books with the intention of producing and selling convincing forgeries. Our objective was to recover the originals and, if possible, apprehend the thieves without resorting to lethal force.
Our investigation took an unexpected turn almost immediately.
One of the thieves had already been arrested... and subsequently murdered before anyone could question him. While searching for further leads, we uncovered evidence linking the operation to the Cult of the Dragon. That trail led us to a set of ancient ruins hidden outside the city.
The entrance was guarded by kobolds.
After a brief skirmish, we pressed deeper into the ruins, where we encountered a seemingly endless procession of unpleasant things. Ghouls wandered the corridors, oozes lurked in forgotten chambers, zombies shambled through the halls, and more than a few dead kobolds served as grim reminders that we were not the first to venture inside.
By the time we had cleared those passages, we were battered, exhausted, and in desperate need of rest.
Curiously, that rest felt... unusual.
Though we only stopped for a short while, it somehow felt as though days had passed before we continued onward. I have no explanation for this sensation. Perhaps the ruins were touched by strange magic, or perhaps fatigue simply distorted my sense of time.
Either way, we continued.
The deeper chambers proved no less hazardous. Nearly every room concealed another trap, another puzzle, or another monster waiting to test us.
Eventually, we found the surviving thief.
Fortunately, one of our companions happened to be a kobold. Through remarkably persuasive conversation, they convinced most of the kobolds guarding the thief to abandon the fight altogether. While their attention was elsewhere, I quietly summoned my mage hand and relieved the culprit of one of the stolen books before he had the opportunity to realize it was gone.
The distraction quickly gave way to combat.
Thankfully, the confrontation was brief. We subdued the thief without killing him, bound him securely, and prepared him for transport back to the authorities.
Our exploration of the ruins was not yet complete.
Several sealed chambers surrounded what appeared to be a final vault. Each chamber was intended to contain a key necessary to open the central door. However, only two of the rooms still held their keys. The remaining two had evidently been looted long before our arrival.
I asked Sunbeam to ensure our captive was carrying nothing concealed.
Watching him lift the unfortunate man upside down by his ankles and gently shake every hidden possession free was... unexpectedly effective.
As it turned out, the missing keys had been hidden on his person all along.
With all four keys assembled, we unlocked the final chamber.
Inside waited an undead figure accompanied by two lesser undead servants. Rather than immediately resorting to violence, we spoke.
After a brief conversation, we agreed it would be wiser to leave the creature undisturbed. Azure Eyes expressed an interest in returning at a later date to learn more, and none of us found reason to object.
Whatever rested within that chamber seemed better protected than disturbed.
To that end, we divided the four keys among ourselves before sealing the vault once more. If anyone wished to enter again, they would first need to gather every key.
With both stolen books recovered and our captive delivered for justice, we returned to Phlan to collect our payment.
Overall, I believe the assignment was a success.
Though I do wonder whether recovering the books was the most interesting thing we found beneath those ruins.
Lyss
Merc
Noba-Di
